For personal and/or safety reasons it is often desirable to prohibit the use of certain electrically operated devices. For example, when parents desire to prevent their children from watching certain television programs, it may be necessary to prevent the television set from being actuated. Similarly, with potentially dangerous power tools, such as a table saw, it is desirable to prevent children or an unauthorized individual from operating such a tool. The simplest way to achieve either of these goals is to unplug the device from its associated electrical outlet, and thereafter preclude the unauthorized user from reinserting the electrical plug into an outlet.
It is therefore desirable to have available a security device to prevent the unauthorized use of electrically powered devices.
Prior art plug locking mechanisms have generally been restricted to use with certain types of plugs, or alternatively have been constructed in a complicated and costly manner. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,654,073 and 2,844,805 disclose devices which are limited in their usage to plugs having a predetermined number of prongs and/or a set arrangement therebetween. However, as electrical plug styles change according to voltage and/or grounding requirements, or where a plug is designed to be used in foreign countries, such devices cannot be utilized. It is therefore beneficial to have a universal plug securing device which can be used with any type of electrical plug.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,764 discloses an electrical plug locking apparatus which will preclude access to an electrical plug, without regard to the type of plug being used. This apparatus, however, requires the use of a multitude of custom-made parts which can result in increased production costs. Where it may be advisable to own several such plug locking mechanisms for use throughout the household, any such higher costs would be a disadvantage.
With the deficiencies noted with regard to the prior art devices, it would be advantageous to provide an apparatus for preventing the unauthorized use of electrical devices that is designed using relatively few parts, thereby being simple and inexpensive to produce, while also being easy to use.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.